Cholesterol is a substance that is found in our blood. It is usually associated with other substances, notably the lipoproteins named LDL and HDL. The association with HDL is good for our health whereas the association with LDL is bad. Let us find out how these associations actually affect our health and how we can guard against their adverse effect on our health.
The LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels are maintained within a normal range by the body's natural regulatory mechanism. Sometimes this regulatory mechanism malfunctions, or maybe the body is flooded with cholesterol by ingestion. In any case the blood cholesterol level exceeds the normal range. This leads to a serious condition which can lead to severe health problems.
LDL cholesterol tends to stick to the inner walls of the blood vessels it moves through. The coating reduces the blood flow through the affected vessels. This means poor circulation which translates to poor health. The coating may increase to an extent where the blood vessel is severely constricted. This condition is known as arteriosclerosis.
Blood backs up from this point leading to high blood pressure which severely stresses the heart. Worse, small bits of the LDL cholesterol blockage can get dislodged and flow down with the blood. If these bits of LDL cholesterol enter a capillary, which is a very fine blood vessel, the capillary gets blocked starving the areas served by the capillary network of vital blood. If this happens in the brain, then areas of the brain just shut down leading to a form of paralysis called a 'stroke'.
If the blood flow to the heart itself is cut off, a heart attack occurs possibly leading to a fatality. These are just two situations which can occur when LDL cholesterol exceeds the normal limit. There are a great number of similar situations, collectively called cardiovascular disease, which are directly linked to the excessive LDL cholesterol level.
There is just one thing we can do to guard against heart disease caused by excessive LDL cholesterol: assist the body in regulating the blood cholesterol level. The most effective way is by controlling what we eat. Medical researchers tell us that the most common reason for excessive LDL cholesterol is our over-indulgence in saturated fats, both directly and indirectly.
We can have fatty foods which are good for health, like the omega-3 group of fats. The omega-3 fats actually work to reduce the LDL cholesterol in the blood, so we should have a lot of tuna and salmon because they are rich sources of omega-3 fats. Studies show that drinking a lot of water helps to increase the blood circulation which goes a long way in reducing LDL cholesterol.
Stop using heavy cooking oil to cook food in. Switch to virgin olive oil which is highly recommended as a healthy cooking medium. Changing your cooking oil is a very effective way to reduce the risk of heart disease.
Smoking actually helps to elevate the LDL cholesterol level in the blood. Give up smoking and see the LDL cholesterol beat a hasty retreat. Follow the other steps in this article to ensure your freedom from a dangerous heart condition.
Medical research shows that stress leads to LDL cholesterol buildup. Lowering your stress level will lower your blood LDL cholesterol too. The moral of the lesson is that you should relax more often, give up those activities that add to your stress, and pick up those activities that reduce your stress.
To sum up, LDL cholesterol can be controlled by eating foods which are free of saturated fats, exercising, quitting smoking and ridding yourself of stress. The worst thing you can do is to panic about high LDL cholesterol levels. This article is meant to educate you about the cause and prevention of heart disease, not scare you. Use what you have learnt in this article to control the LDL cholesterol situation. Once that is under control, you can say that the risk of heart disease is under control.
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1 comment:
You can lower cholesterol without drugs by following some basic steps that will not only change your cholesterol readings, but also improve your health today and in the future. So often we use a prescription drug and hope it will magically cure whatever ails us. The truth is prescription drugs for lowering cholesterol do work. The problem is both the short term and long-term side effects.
Even more dangerous than the side effects of prescription drugs to lower cholesterol is not getting cholesterol under control. Over time, high cholesterol can lead to numerous conditions of the heart and arteries, not the least of which are atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), stroke or heart attack.
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